Ooops! Whale Makes Another Wrong Turn, Ends Up in a New River

Humphrey the humpback whale took another wrong turn Thursday and swam into the San Joaquin River, exploring an area it had never visited before.

The new twist in the odyssey of the rare whale came hours after a group of scientists and whale lovers announced plans to resume efforts on Sunday to herd the 40-foot, 40-ton whale back to salt water.

Rescuers had been encouraged earlier in the day when the independent-minded mammal swam down the Sacramento River about 10 miles to Pittsburg, past the point where the two huge rivers meet.

It was the first time in three weeks that the wayward creature has moved any appreciable distance back toward the sea on its own initiative.

But then the whale turned back and swam about five miles up the San Joaquin, according to reports from the Contra Costa County sheriff and the state Department of Fish and Game that were relayed by Jay Ziegler, a spokesman for the rescue group. As darkness fell, the whale was at the Antioch Bridge, more than 40 miles from the Pacific.

After meeting in the state capital much of the day, scientists and government officials agreed to start up the herding operation again on Sunday in the hope of driving the leviathan at least to San Francisco Bay.

Experts from as far away as Newfoundland and Florida, who were consulted via a telephone conference call, agreed that the animal will not live for long in the river.

“It’s unanimous that Humphrey is in the wrong place,” said state Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), a leader of the rescue operation. “He can’t survive in fresh water. The sooner he gets out of there, the better chance he has to live.”

The celebrated whale entered San Francisco Bay about three weeks ago and swam more than 60 miles across California as it moved up the Sacramento River, passing cities, oil refineries, cornfields and grazing cattle.

Last week, the rescue team freed the animal from Shag Slough, a shallow dead-end channel of the Sacramento River, where it was trapped behind a small bridge. A fleet of boats then herded it about 27 miles down the river past Pittsburg.

However, the rescue operation was called off on Monday, and the whale returned about a dozen miles upstream during the night, holing up near Decker Island, several miles south of Rio Vista, where it remained until Thursday.

On Sunday, more than 30 boats, including three military troop transport vessels, will be enlisted to herd Humphrey down river, under the plan authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has authority over the whale.

At night, rescuers will attempt to prevent the animal from returning upstream by establishing a “sonic barrier” of periodic loud noises underwater. Boats will also be stationed on the river at night to help block the whale.

To aid in the downstream drive, scientists will try on Saturday--for the fourth time--to implant a radio transmitter in the animal.

This time, they will use a crossbow to shoot the tracking device into the whale’s blubber.

Earlier in the day, veterinarian Laurie Gage of Marineworld in Vallejo reported that the whale appeared to be healthy, breathing normally and not suffering any serious skin problems from living in fresh water.

“Right now, he still seems strong,” she said. “I don’t feel Humphrey came in to die. If he came in to die, he would be dead. He’s just a misplaced, misguided whale.”

Sheridan Stone, a fisheries service marine biologist, said there was no evidence that the whale is about to give birth--a rampant rumor in the area, despite a consensus among scientists that Humphrey is probably a male. “We were on the scene,” he said wryly, “and we didn’t see any water boiling.”